We lost our spark...

Call it luck. Call it fate. Call it the spirit of Kauai…whatever it was that brought us together sure had things right. I hope you’re lucky enough to work with people that inspire you, make you laugh and keep you motivated. We call ourselves the “KaiKini Wahines”. Maybe it isn't the best work practice to be such good friends with your employees, but I don’t care. It works for me. It works for us. These girls are like family to me.

The KaiKini Wahines: Andrea, Marina, Taryn, Kristen & Kim

There is a sense of trust between us that is the underlying basis for our success. We have weekly meetings so we can brainstorm and keep each other in check. Communication is key. Last year though, it got tough. Some pretty significant things happened. I was pregnant, had a baby, we moved from the studio behind my house to a huge warehouse in downtown Kapaa and immediately had a grand opening party and runway show. The girls took on a lot. I wasn't able to give the business my full attention and the girls picked up the slack. This was never discussed, they just made it happen. (A million “thank you’s” will never be enough to express the gratitude I feel towards these girls.) So by the end of the year, we were exhausted, a little burnt out and a lot needed to be said. We all worked really hard to get where we needed to be, but somewhere in the mix we lost that spark we had. The fun, the laughter, the bonding - it hadn't been happening. So after the new year we sat down, talked it out, cried it out, let everything that we had been holding back go. We learned that the head down, clench your fists and work through it method is not the way for us. 

It’s amazing what a good cry fest will do for a bunch of girls! Kristen and Marina are back to singing songs from their favorite Disney movies, Kim chimes in about her latest look on Covet, and I even caught a smile on Andrea’s face when she was counting inventory (her least favorite task). As for me, I’m happy that things are back to normal, but actually no, they’re not normal, they’re better than normal. We figured it out. We found the perfect balance of work and fun. Things get accomplished faster and with less mistakes; the anticipation for our crazy summer season is building and we are ready. Together we can do this. Together we create the magic that is KaiKini.

XOXO,

Taryn Mari'